Asa made his appearance again this year. I do think this is likely his last year making daily visits. We love him dearly, but the girls are sort of past the delight and whimsy. But we steadfastly love the little guy. I am sure he will adorn a special place in our Christmas henceforth.
Month: December 2022
Simpsonville Christmas Parade
This was our second year marching in the parade. Johanna’s friend Makenna designed and prepared the float for HER level award.
It was exquisite.
What a thrill to be able to march down Main Street with the message of Jesus.
Blessed by this beauty!
Katriel asked me weeks ago what I wanted for my birthday.
I told her I just wanted time to paint the dining room.
She took charge of that. She announced she would make dinner on my birthday so that I would have time to paint. She also endeavored to make my hummingbird cake.
Daddy helped a little.
It was the yummiest pasta and sausage and cake I have ever had.
Too busy for images…
Archery.
Dentist appointments.
Eye exams.
Oh – and I quit my job.
I celebrated my birthday by quitting my job. It made me so sad. It was such a nice hospital and I loved being with patients again.
But 12-hour nights were killing me.
Specifically – it was destroying my homeschool.
In order to work a 12 hour school night, I was needing to wrap up school by noon, make lunch, and get to bed for a nap by 1:30 or so, so I could be up by 4:30 or so, get dinner underway, and leave for work by 6PM.
Then, the next morning, I drove home like a zombie and slept until noon or so. And then tried to do a full day of school on fumes.
And still do all the things we are supposed to do – drive kids to classes, activities, and the like.
I gave a month’s notice, and grieved having to exit after they poured a lot into me.
My boss reached out. She thanked me for giving it a whirl, and suggested we talk about me staying on in some 8 hour shifts. THAT would be a blessing. We shall see what happens. I am very hopeful we can work something out.
Happy Birthday to me–festive like!
Firstly – daddy had the day off.
Secondly – co op is over.
Thirdly – only Nigel had to work in the evening.
Let’s make up for last year’s non-birthday. (It wasn’t bad – we were just tooo busy.)
After a leisurely morning and a little school with Tab we headed to the Greenville Zoo to have one more visit before our annual pass expires. It was sunny, dry, and in the 50’s. The zoo was quite decorated and it was Dad and Tab’s first visit there.
It is much smaller than Seneca Park Zoo, and doesn’t have as many animals. But they are different and they do try.
The lions were very vocal, too.
They have an awesome set of playgrounds, too!
We went home for a while and ate pizza.
Johanna, Tabitha, Katriel, John and I went up to Bob Jones University for their Christmas Festival. It included SO many activities for families. Concerts. Food Trucks. Tree Lighting.
We ducked indoors for a Blue Grass concert. Stewart and Marie arrived while we were in there. They were very accomplished musicians.
Then we listened to an outdoor concert by some Velos students.
We found more treats, and then watched a movie by Answers in Genesis.
Then we joined in a campus wide carol sing and lighting of the trees.
Lastly, we headed over to the smores, and the alumni market place.
It was SUCH a fun and festive birthday. Hopefully we can attend this again next year and Nigel can join us.
Level Award Christmas Party
As a first year Pioneer, Johanna had two years to complete her event planning requirement for her Level Award, but she was adamant that she would complete it this year. She was required to plan one troop wide event requiring at least 10 hours of work. She decided to host the troop Christmas party. And it certainly used more than 10 hours.
We prepared for months. It was hard for me to not just jump in and take over, especially when a lot of time was being taken up for the new job. But the purpose was to teach her all the pieces. This included (but was not limited to) researching crafts for the age levels, the costs for the crafts, and purchasing the supplies. She/we needed to also research games. She also had to plan to food and supplies and we had to learn together how to make a sign-up in Sign Up Genius.
We made practice crafts, too. And she wrote her own devotion.
The theme was stars, and the party was stellar.
We used every last table we could find.
We had Daddy come to also help.
She led the younger girls through their star craft and a game of Bingo.
She also had to make 45 bags of Fruit Loop Markers and we did all the prep bags for the crafts.
I led the older girls in their star craft, and their scavenger hunt game.
Johanna did an amazing job.
And I am sooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooo glad it is done!
Dayspring Disciples 